Before the full-scale invasion, the Lyubymivska community was a cozy, self-sufficient and promising area on the left bank of the Kherson region. This is how its head of the settlement military administration Serhii Konovalov describes it.
He has led the community since 2015. Since 2017, after the decentralization reform, – already as head of the Lyubymivka settlement council. The man recalls – over five years he had to take part in local elections three times. In his words, the community went through a difficult path of formation since the time of amalgamation, but by the beginning of 2022 clearly saw prospects for its development. The main revenues to the budget were provided by local farming households and private agricultural enterprises specializing in the cultivation of grain, oilseed and vegetable crops. Thanks to a developed irrigation system, farmers managed to harvest record crops – watermelons, early vegetables, and grains. Small and medium-sized businesses, retail trade, the service sector and small processing enterprises were actively developing.
Thus after the decentralization reform this allowed the Lyubymivska community to reconstruct the street lighting system, repair roads, update the material and technical base of schools and kindergartens, launch a modern administrative services center, and build a modern outpatient clinic. With particular pride Serhii Konovalov recalls the renovated house of culture, which for about 20 years had been used as a coal storehouse.
“Of course, we were most proud of our people — hardworking, sincere, who loved their land boundlessly. We were proud of the status as one of the most powerful agricultural centers of the Kakhovka area, our picturesque landscapes along the Dnipro and the Kakhov Reservoir, rich harvests, the glorious Scythian-Sarmatian history of the Lyubymivka hillfort. And, of course, that step by step we were making life in every settlement and village more European and comfortable. In spring 2022 we planned to start construction of a modern stadium and a recreation park”, — he says.
All plans were interrupted by the full-scale invasion. The left bank of the Kherson region was among the first to feel the blows of Russian troops.
“The first realization that this was not a provocation but an actual war came at about 5 a.m. I called the mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Volodymyr Kovalenko, and he confirmed my suspicions. He said there had been a strike on a gas distribution station. By 7 a.m. our whole team was already at our workplaces. After we overcame the first shock, we began making decisions — coordination of utility services, protection of critical infrastructure facilities, providing people with bread and essential foodstuffs, organizing assistance for lonely elderly people. I immediately recorded a video appeal to the residents of our community. A patrol by guys from our association “Varta” was also organized to prevent looting”, — recalls Serhii Konovalov.
The first Russian checkpoint on the territory of the Lyubymivska community appeared on the second day of the invasion; then the occupiers began entering settlements. When such “raids” occurred, residents immediately called Mr. Serhii. According to him, Russian soldiers searched peasants’ homes particularly thoroughly for weapons. To make the searches and intimidation stop, local hunters handed over their own shotguns.
Despite constant “raids” the settlement council managed to operate until the end of July. Then the Russians presented a gauleiter — a local collaborator from Vasylivka, Andrii Shtepa, who a few months later was blown up in Kakhovka (after Shtepa was blown up, the community was headed by a resident of Lyubymivka, settlement council deputy Iryna Dobryanska).
“At some point they told us to gather the employees of the settlement council. I called the council secretary and asked her to tell each employee: ‘The choice is yours. You can come, you can not come — as you see fit. We are all grown-ups.’ Everyone came. They presented the new so-called head of the community, suggested that everyone remain at their workplaces and cooperate with the new authorities. They said: ‘Whoever decides to stay and work — stay, all others are free.’ I stood up, thanked people for seven years of cooperation. And my last sentence was: ‘We are all adults, each has his own head on his shoulders. No one can force you to work’. Immediately no one remained at the settlement council”, — recalls Serhii Konovalov.
The very next day Russian soldiers came to his home with searches. The occupiers demanded that Mr. Serhii “hand over” all the addresses of ATO servicemen or their family members. After the man refused, they threatened him with “the basement”. That same evening Serhii Konovalov left Lyubymivka with his family.
Now the villages of the occupied community are on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. For over a year residents have been living without water supply – after the Russians stole the shut-off valves at all five wells.
“Since 2007 water in Lyubymivka itself was supplied around the clock and without interruption, except for isolated emergency situations. In the villages that joined in 2017, we also established 24-hour supply. Imagine: a person for almost ten years received water around the clock, and then in one moment the water supply is completely cut off. Now they order water tankers from Kakhovka, paying for the water and delivery”, — says the head of the SVA.
Due to the lack of water villagers have lost the ability to grow and sell vegetables and greens. There are also problems in the village with electricity supply and medical assistance.
Because the villages that are part of the Lyubymivska territorial community are located close to the bank of the Dnipro, destruction occurs daily as a result of hostilities. A day before our conversation with Mr. Serhii a shop and three residential houses were destroyed in Lyubymivka. The house of culture, which the village was so proud of, burned down about two months ago. Earlier the outpatient clinic had been destroyed. Of the former residents of the community, according to authorities’ estimates, about 30% remain.
Now the Lyubymivska settlement military administration is relocated to the city of Kropyvnytskyi. According to Serhii Konovalov, its key function today is to preserve the legal and financial viability of the community as part of Ukraine.
SVA employees ensure payroll for public sector workers, compile registers of damaged and destroyed property, provide administrative and social consultations online, and accumulate international humanitarian aid. In Kropyvnytskyi a hub operates where assistance is issued to internally displaced persons who are in the territory of Kirovohrad Oblast.
A child welfare service operates that cares for children who remained in the occupied territory, in particular children from vulnerable categories and those who leave the occupied community.
“Literally on 5 August a mother with a child left Lyubymivka. They are now in Rivne. I plan to go visit this family around mid-September. Children who return from the temporarily occupied territory we always meet on territory under Ukrainian control. We buy them gifts, treats. A cash payment is also provided to such families”, — says Mr. Serhii.
There are also programs for servicemen that provide payments upon conscription into military service, in case of injury — payments for rehabilitation, and financial support for families of fallen servicemen.
Serhii Konovalov and his colleagues try to maintain contact with all residents of the Lyubymivska community who are now dispersed across Ukraine and the world. It is harder to keep in touch with those who remained on the occupied territory.
“I do not call them, because that could put a person at risk. Phones are checked there. Sometimes you call someone and Russian soldiers are standing in their yard. So people call themselves. In the first years they often asked whether to take a Russian passport, what to do about pensions, documents. I convinced them that they should do whatever helps them survive and hold on until victory”, — he emphasizes.
After the occupation authorities began operating in Lyubymivka, the community was looted by the Russians. According to Serhii Konovalov, schools had their televisions, laptops, printers and office equipment taken. The settlement council and the municipal enterprise were also looted, from where a tractor, a trailer, an excavator and two buses were taken away.
“In my own house after I left Russian soldiers lived. Their rotation was three or four times, and everyone who came in took something for themselves. Three drones struck my house in one day, and a few days later — another one. But even before that they managed to remove and take the air conditioner. At the same time they did not touch the external part of the air conditioner that hung on the wall of the house. Just looting for the sake of looting”, — he recalls.
The head of the Lyubymivska SVA emphasizes: the authorities are already preparing for de-occupation now and plan to make the community more modern and safe, although we come to the conclusion that instead of the word “restoration” it is rather necessary to use “building from scratch”. — Are you ready now for de-occupation?
“Our regional leadership acted very wisely at the time when it assigned the heads of military administrations of temporarily occupied territories to communities that had already been de-occupied in the Kherson region. I and the head of the Tavriyska military administration are assigned to the Novooleksandrivka community. This gave us a lot, because we saw their experience and developments. We know what to do from the first day of de-occupation: the first day, the first week, the first month. We already have recovery plans and action algorithms. The first task is demining. Then — water supply. The humanitarian direction”, — says Serhii Konovalov.
According to him, the most work will be with water. Over the years when the centralized system did not work, a huge amount of resources will have to be applied there.
To date, the Lyubymivska SVA has signed memoranda with five communities from the western regions of Ukraine — two city and three settlement — and is already working out recovery models.
At the end of our conversation Mr. Serhii addressed the residents of the Lyubymivska community who are currently under occupation, because he is convinced: they are all waiting for victory.
“I know how incredibly hard it is for you now. I know that each day for you is a test of endurance and courage. Please, take care of your life and health. Do not lose heart and do not believe Russian propaganda that says you have supposedly been forgotten. You are remembered. Every success of our Armed Forces at the front brings closer the day when we will return to our community”, — he concludes.